"When you teach a child something, you take away forever his chance of discovering it for himself"
Jean Piaget was a Swiss developmental psychologist. During his time studying at the University of Neuchâtel and the University of Zürich, Piaget published two papers documenting the direction of his thinking; he later dismissed this direction as adolescent thought. This sparked his interest in psychoanalysis. Moving from Switzerland to Paris, France, Piaget began teaching at the Grange-Aux-Belles Street School for Boys. During his time at the school, he taught under Alfred Binet (developer of the Binet Intelligence Test) and helped administer the test questions. Upon noticing that children consistently made the same mistakes as the others, but that the adults did not make these same mistakes, Piaget began to realize the cognitive process of a child is different from that of an adult. While researching the intellectual development of children, Piaget found that children follow a sociological path moving from egocentrism to sociocentrism, learning through assimilation and accommodation. However, he is greatly known for his theory of intellectual development.
Intellectual development occurs in four stages, sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational. Piaget tells us that one stage must be completed before the next can be started. Throughout their development, children replace earlier levels of mental ability with higher order thinking. As children interact with their environment, they create schemata which they rely on to understand the world around them. In moving to the next stage of development, children must adjust their schemata or change them completely.
Piaget’s Schemata:
Behavioral Schemata- patterns of behavior used to represent determined responses to actions
Symbolic Schemata-mental symbols used to represent experiences
Operational Schemata- mental activity performed when thinking about something
Schemata are critical to cognitive development, are constantly being changed, are affected by new experiences, and are based on previous knowledge or experience.
"When you teach a child something, you take away forever his chance of discovering it for himself"
Jean Piaget was a Swiss developmental psychologist. During his time studying at the University of Neuchâtel and the University of Zürich, Piaget published two papers documenting the direction of his thinking; he later dismissed this direction as adolescent thought. This sparked his interest in psychoanalysis. Moving from Switzerland to Paris, France, Piaget began teaching at the Grange-Aux-Belles Street School for Boys. During his time at the school, he taught under Alfred Binet (developer of the Binet Intelligence Test) and helped administer the test questions. Upon noticing that children consistently made the same mistakes as the others, but that the adults did not make these same mistakes, Piaget began to realize the cognitive process of a child is different from that of an adult. While researching the intellectual development of children, Piaget found that children follow a sociological path moving from egocentrism to sociocentrism, learning through assimilation and accommodation. However, he is greatly known for his theory of intellectual development.
Meet Piaget
Piaget’s Theory of Intellectual Development:
Intellectual development occurs in four stages, sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational. Piaget tells us that one stage must be completed before the next can be started. Throughout their development, children replace earlier levels of mental ability with higher order thinking. As children interact with their environment, they create schemata which they rely on to understand the world around them. In moving to the next stage of development, children must adjust their schemata or change them completely.
Piaget’s Schemata:
Behavioral Schemata- patterns of behavior used to represent determined responses to actions
Symbolic Schemata-mental symbols used to represent experiences
Operational Schemata- mental activity performed when thinking about something
Schemata are critical to cognitive development, are constantly being changed, are affected by new experiences, and are based on previous knowledge or experience.
Webliography
Jean Piaget WikipediaPiaget.org
Page created by Ashley Marino, February 2, 2013